To Celebrate Christmas, or Not

Note: This originally was in eight separate posts, but is being blended into one here - that's why it's a bit of a mess right now. We hope and plan to finish re-working it (tightening it up, clarifying some things, and adding to it) by this coming Christmas '07' - our Lord willing.

Part I

Over the years our family has made many different choices regarding the issue of whether or not to celebrate Christmas.

This will be our 33rd Christmas as a married couple (we've been married 32 years!). We began with the typical tree, trimmings, and the whole nine yards - and we thoroughly enjoyed it!

As our children came along (and we all came to the Lord), we felt a desire to focus more and more upon our Savior for this time of year because it was, after all, His birth being celebrated! We stopped putting up a tree and trimmings (to take our children's focus off of gifts for themselves and all the glitz and glitter), and we began searching for ways to glorify our Lord more specifically.

Most years we would put up nativities, some years we did creative advents, and a couple of times we did nothing at all and didn't miss a thing. But the ones we liked the best were when we 'gave gifts to Jesus' by giving to other people who couldn't reciprocate - like sleeping bags to the homeless shelter, or making the gospel flyer that was handed out to thousands at an area park, or when we simply gave of ourselves and our time to encourage and brighten someone's holiday. 

One year we did a narration of Jesus' birth (in full costume) for John's ailing parents, and the next year we had a blast making gingerbread houses with them (not knowing it would be the last Christmas we'd have with his mom before she died). Such wonderful memories we have now.

It feels like we have pretty much run the full gamut of possibilities for celebrating Christmas - or not. We know this holiday means a lot of different things to different people. Some have made it into a purely secular affair for their families, some celebrate it with their whole hearts because it speaks of the incarnation of our Lord, and others try to avoid it like the plague. Having been on all ends of this spectrum, we'll share here what we've come to conclude about it.

Part II

For those who are struggling with celebrating Christmas (especially in the typical way it is done today), we want you to know - we've struggled with this issue, too! The last time we put up a Christmas tree was 21 years ago. But don't let that make you think these posts are going in the direction you think they are…

You'd think that celebrating Christmas would be a given for all Christians. After all, as an unbeliever once said to us - 'Why wouldn't a Christian celebrate the birth of Christianity's founder?'

But there are some who are trusting Jesus as their Savior that think it's not such a good thing to do, and their reasons for it seem to be based upon a myriad of different reasons.

Some avoid it because they believe it has pagan roots.

Some avoid it because of the commercialism and materialism associated with it.

Some avoid the Christmas tree saying it's the idol worshipped in the book of Jeremiah.

Some want to concentrate more on the Savior than the celebration.

Some celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles in the fall instead (because the Word became flesh and dwelt or 'tabernacled' (sp?) - as in a tent or a body - among us, raising questions about the possibility that Christ was born at that time of year).

The decision is many times based upon something read --- outside of the Bible (a secular dictionary definition, an encyclopedia entry, a 'so-called' fact of history, some man's opinion - each of these many times challenged by some other bit of information). Something written that has the power to sway our decision really needs to be 100% accurate and unchallengeable --- but we've not found any of man's writings to be that. sigh…

The Bible needs to be the source of information we base our decisions on. Surely something of this nature (whether or not to celebrate our Lord's birth) is found in it. Though not spoken of verbatim in Scripture, we do believe the issue can be plainly understood from God's Word - accurately, in context, and consistently.

Part III

(Portions of the following are taken from a Position Paper we pulled together.)

Point #1 - There are salvational issues we must never compromise on, for any reason. These issues are to be the 'plumb line' by which all professions of faith in Jesus Christ must be measured.  (i.e. Jesus is God… Salvation is by grace through faith… etc.)

Point #2 - There are many non-salvational issues about which we can either have:

- a conviction (because we've studied it out in the Bible, become convinced by what we have read, and have come to have a conviction about it).

- or an opinion (because we have not studied it out in the Bible).

In all areas of our lives, we should desire to know God's truth rather than be guided by our personal preferences or men's traditions. Each of us is responsible to search out all issues in His Word in a thorough and accurate manner and then we can come to biblical convictions which we live out for the purpose of pleasing our Lord.

Point #3 - Scripture's testimony regarding a celebration of Christ's birth is:

- The coming of the Messiah, Jesus, was foretold and looked forward to throughout the Old or Original Covenant (the Old Testament).

- God came to earth and dwelt among mankind. Immanuel: God with us! (John 1:14, Matthew 1:23) Hallelujah!

- At Jesus' birth, the angels proclaimed it as good tidings of great joy and God was praised and glorified by the people (Luke 2:1-20).

Therefore, there is some Scriptural foundation for there being a proclamation of Jesus' birth, and praise and glory being given to God for that.

Point #4 - Scripture's testimony, however, gives us no place where we are directed to, instructed on how to, or even given any examples of any of Jesus' disciples celebrating His birth as a part of their personal or corporate church life.

Therefore, there is no Scriptural foundation for requiring a celebration of His birth.

Point #5 - Scripture states we are to remember / celebrate Christ's death (through the Lord's Supper) until His return! (1 Corinthians 11:17-34)

Therefore, the believer is to celebrate this.

Point #6 - Scripture teaches there will be differences of opinion on (non-salvational) matters between believers, issues of personal conscience, and that we are to walk in love with each other in all things (Romans 14).

But Scripture also shows a pattern of teaching each other what the Lord's Word says so that we may all live with a clear conscience --- according to what He's actually said (Romans 14).

Part IV

While sharing above bits and pieces of what our family has done on the issue, we talked about a few of the things we'd found in the Bible regarding it:

- There is some Scriptural foundation for a proclamation of Christ's birth and praise and glory being given to God for it.

- There is no Scriptural foundation for requiring a celebration of His birth.

- Believers are to celebrate the Lord's death until He returns (communion).

- There will be differences of opinion between believers (on non-salvational issues), and we're to walk in love with each other in all things - yet teach each other (as Paul did in Romans 14) what God has actually said so that we can do all things with a clear conscience.

There's one more thing we need to add to that list:

- Scripture nowhere forbids a celebration of Jesus' birth.

This is an important point, because there are some who teach the Bible does forbid it - not in so many words, but through the application of principles found there. Some of the arguments we've heard (and believed ourselves for a season) are:

1) Paganism is the root of the Christmas celebration --- so to avoid all things pagan, celebrating Christmas must be avoided.

2) Paganism is the root of celebrating Christmas at this specific time of the year (Dec 25) --- so to avoid all things pagan, celebrating Christmas, especially on Dec 25, must be avoided.

3) The Christmas tree is clearly identified as an idol in the books of Jeremiah and Isaiah --- so to avoid all idols, having / using a Christmas tree must be avoided.

4) The Nativity is a graven image --- so to avoid having / using a graven image, the Nativity must be avoided.

5) Santa Claus is purely satanic, usurping God's role as the Giver of all good gifts --- so to avoid all things purely satanic, the use of Santa Claus must be avoided.

6) The evils of commercialism, materialism, and the secularization of the Christmas celebration are rampant --- so to avoid these evils, celebrating Christmas must be avoided.

There are other arguments against celebrating Christmas, but we think these are fairly representative of the issue. It's impossible to do any real justice to this discussion in the little bit of time and room we have here, but we do want to briefly touch on these now.

Part V

But, before dealing with the arguments brought against celebrating Christmas we want to set some proper groundwork in place. (One word of context: these posts are specifically addressing Christians who do not celebrate Christmas.)

Motives… We believe the vast majority of those who believe Christmas should not be celebrated do so because they earnestly believe it pleases the Lord to abstain from it. So we choose to believe the absolute best about their motives.

Knowledge… The question is how much true biblical knowledge is being used to find out what pleases, or displeases, the Lord? As believers in Jesus Christ, we are to be 'filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that we may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects…' (Colossians 1:9b-10a). Knowledge based squarely on Scripture with spiritual wisdom and understanding is needed, not 'knowledge' which is based upon man's so-called wisdom and vain writings.

Accuracy… The next question is whether or not God's Word has been rightly divided and accurately handled. This is of utmost importance. Solid Bible study skills are essential to rightly interpret the Word according to sound hermeneutics and exegesis. The goal is to know what God's Word actually says, or does not say.

Two helps for accuracy are verbatim and plainly.

Verbatim means something is stated precisely, word for word, unmistakably and it is ironclad. ('God is love' is verbatim in Scripture.) An example for the present issue might be if the Bible were to say unequivocally: Do not celebrate the birth of your Lord Jesus Christ, in any way, shape, or form, under any circumstance! That would be very direct, very specific - verbatim.

Yet, just having some of the words, or similar ones, appear on a Bible page does not constitute a verbatim statement. An example might be where the Bible says the words '…Jesus was born' and also 'Herod is going to search for the Child to destroy Him' and it is said this means Christ's birth must not be celebrated because other 'Herods' today will seek to destroy Him, too. Hello? Where ever did this new doctrine come from? But it is argued the words were there verbatim - Jesus - born - Herod - destroy Him. Yikeroonies! Those words must be rightly interpreted and presented.

As for verbatim - the issue of celebrating Christmas, or not, is not found anywhere in all of Scripture. It doesn't say do celebrate it, and it doesn't say don't celebrate it.

Plainly means something is not stated verbatim in Scripture but has been derived from Bible verses that 'add up' to the doctrine or teaching being presented. There's almost always a need for a 'bridge' to help make the case ironclad, i.e. a word of explanation on how the verses weave together to make the teaching, or perhaps a bit of deducing to apply it properly to something. (The Trinity is a good example of something plainly taught in the Bible using multiple verses.)

For the present issue, an example of plainly might be if Scripture said: Do not have anything to do with things of pagan origin, and then if Christmas was proven to be of pagan origin - we would have our plainly taught principle, with its bridge. 1) No things of pagan origin + 2) Christmas is of pagan origin = 3) do not have anything to do with Christmas.

Yet, all Scriptures must still be rightly interpreted and presented or we can conjure up innumerable things we say are plainly taught in the Bible. So in the above case, we would need to ask if the Bible truly taught we are not to have anything to do with things of pagan origin before connecting it with something that 'may' fit that description (testing whether the thing in question fits the description would be the next step). It must begin with establishing a true biblical principle plainly on issues not addressed verbatim in Scripture.

We believe plainly is where we're going to find the answers for this issue of celebrating Christmas since it's not verbatim in the Bible. Next, we'll look at the arguments against celebrating Christmas in light of these things.

Part VI

We'll start with some statements put forth as fact by various people regarding Christmas and its trappings (no exact quotes are used - merely the gist of what's being said). You'll be able to see how they conflict with and contradict one another, and understand the frustration with wondering who can be believed. If you do believe one and not another, why? How can you be sure any source outside the Bible is correct?

As you read them, ask yourself which of these can be proven (in the affirmative - yes) verbatim or even plainly in Scripture?

- Christmas came from purely pagan roots.

- Christmas was started by the Christian church.

- Christmas is traced back to ancient mythology connected with the false worship systems of seemingly all Mother-Son duos known to mankind. (At least that's how some people seem to write.)

- Christmas came from the church's attempt to eclipse, make use of, or synthesize (depending upon who you read) - with Christ's birth, a pagan festival already celebrated on December 25 (or December 21, or perhaps it was mid December??? - again, depending upon who you read).

- There is no historical evidence the above pagan festival was ever celebrated in December (though there may be evidence it was celebrated in the spring and fall), so Christmas (in December) cannot be connected with it.

- Christmas was begun as a special Catholic celebration of the Mass (hence - Christ's Mass).

- Christmas came simply from sincere Christians earnestly searching for Christ's real birth date, and this way before it was instituted in any formal way by the church.

- Christmas trappings all came from pagan origins.

- Christmas trappings each began as symbols to teach of and depict Christ's love for us, and to teach of and depict our salvation.

None of these (certainly as stated) can be proven verbatim or even plainly from Scripture. Yet, we're essentially asked by each author to believe them just as we would what is written in the Bible.

We've concluded, though, that arguments on things outside of what the Bible clearly addresses are not needed for this discussion. They are all swept away so we can concentrate on arguments that do use the Bible.

After doing much reading, what seems to us to be at the heart of this issue are two main things:

1. Pagan origins --- and what is assumed follows that - the Bible's forbiddance of having anything to do with things pagan .

2. Scripture 'prooftexts' used to argue against all things Christmas .

We need to finish up this series, but there's still a few freckles of stuff to cover.

Part VII

There is so much that could be written about this subject…but we'll briefly give some conclusions we've come to. Study in God's Word is what has brought us to these conclusions that have now become our convictions.

1. We are convinced God's Word completely prohibits our participation in the worship of false gods. Hands down… no question about it… we're not to do that! So… we don't.

(worship - giving homage and honor to something or someone by bowing down to or prostrating ourselves to it / them) (false gods - that which by nature and in truth are not the one true and living God)

It's easy to idealize this issue and say worshipping false gods is anything we lift up in our hearts --- especially when we don't live in a country where people down the road are actually bowing themselves down in the dust to pay homage to false idols / gods made by hands. We are to worship God alone! Enough said.

2. We are convinced God's Word carries no command to 'have nothing to do with things of pagan origin' - a phrase not found in Scripture and conjured up to mean something the Bible does not teach.

(pagan - at its most basic root, someone who doesn't believe in or worship the one true and living God. Not a primary term the Bible uses - in fact, used only rarely and secondarily as a synonym for Gentile, heathen, or nations - ethnos. It's been given connotations of false worship.)

Important Point: The Bible is the truth! All other beliefs, information, or things veer from, or pervert, it. (Read 'Eternity in Their Hearts' by Don Richardson to better understand how the world carries vestiges of Bible truth. Bible truth came first - then the world's ideas and beliefs spun off and deteriorated from that.)

Important Point: If we had been commanded to have nothing to do with things of pagan origin (a concept we've not found in Scripture, and we believe the Bible even refutes) we would be in huge trouble trying to obey that consistently since our lives are permeated with things of 'pagan origin.' Get very practical and specific here… we'd have to not say or use the days of the week or months (names coming from false gods), not celebrate any festivities (birthdays, 4th of July, Mother's Day, etc.), not use any electricity, gas, clothes, food, books, cars, etc. because pagans / unbelievers own, operate, produce, and even profit monetarily from the vast majority of these. We'd even have to forsake anything to do with crosses (including any depiction of or reference to Calvary 's cross that Jesus was crucified upon) because with a certainty it came from 'pagan origins' being a Roman instrument of torture. Are you seeing the enormity of this picture begin to unfold? We finally did.

Important Point: One passage popularly used as a prooftext to say we are not to have anything to do with things of pagan origins (see Part VIII) in truth, actually proves we can partake of things having 'pagan origins' (even those used in pagan false worship rituals) ------- with a completely clear conscience before God, even giving Him thanks for it.

3. We are convinced God's Word teaches we have great freedom in Christ to do much, as we give thanks to our Creator for His provision of things. We are, however, admonished to never let our freedom be a license for sin, and to never let the freedom we do have harm another. In other words, our freedom in Christ does not enable us to do as we please, but is to be guided by God's love ruling our hearts and enabling us to limit those freedoms when it's for God's glory and the best interest of others.

4. We are convinced God came to this earth, clothed Himself with humanity, headed to the Cross of Calvary as our Savior, and that His incarnation was proclaimed as good tidings of great joy and praise and glory was given to God for it! This seems elementary and inescapable to us. And it is what we will be guided by for the rest of our lives. So when did it happen? God alone knows. In that, some find reason not to celebrate Christ's coming. In that, we find reason to celebrate His coming at this time of year, and all year long!

5. We are convinced we can celebrate Christmas with a perfectly clear conscience, if we so choose. (Btw… we still didn't put up a Christmas tree this year, and we may or may not ever do that in the future. But we can, if we want. We did, however, send out our Year's End Letter to some 100 families which contained the Good News of Jesus Christ, and we attended church on Christmas Eve and celebrated the birth of our Lord Jesus by hearing the account of it read from Scripture, and we remembered His death through taking communion. We also exchanged gifts with our family and shared a meal with them.)

Note: Some day when we have more time, we'll try to get online some condensations of premises related to the Christmas issue that we've checked against Scripture.

Our Lord's richest blessings be upon you - now and all year through!

~*~*~

Part VIII

1 Corinthians 10:14-33 (NAS)

14. Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.

15. I speak as to wise men; you judge what I say.

16. Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ?

17. Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one bread.

18. Look at the nation Israel ; are not those who eat the sacrifices sharers in the altar?

19. What do I mean then? That a thing sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything?

20. No, but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons, and not to God; and I do not want you to become sharers in demons.

21. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons.

22. Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? We are not stronger than He, are we?

23. All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify.

24. Let no one seek his own good, but that of his neighbor.

25. Eat anything that is sold in the meat market, without asking questions for conscience' sake;

26. for the earth is the Lord's, and all it contains.

27. If one of the unbelievers invites you, and you wish to go, eat anything that is set before you, without asking questions for conscience' sake.

28. But if anyone should say to you, "This is meat sacrificed to idols," do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for conscience' sake;

29. I mean not your own conscience, but the other man's; for why is my freedom judged by another's conscience?

30. If I partake with thankfulness, why am I slandered concerning that for which I give thanks?

31. Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

32. Give no offense either to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God ;

33. just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of the many, that they may be saved.

The context of idolatry here is one of sacrificing meat to idols / demons and eating it for that purpose - as a sacrifice to them.

Fact: We are to flee idolatry (vs 14).

Fact: Yet idols are nothing (they are not true gods) (vs's 19-20a).

Fact: Devils are actually behind the idols (vs 20).

Fact: The 'table of demons' is clearly spelled out as sacrificing meat to an idol and eating it for that purpose - as unto that idol (actually a demon) (vs's 20,18-21).

Fact: We have the freedom to eat meat that has been sacrificed to idols - because idols are nothing, because God made the meat, and because it is to be received with thanksgiving to God (vs's 25,26,29b,30).

Fact: God says we are not to eat the meat sacrificed to idols if an an unbeliever gives us the meat and tells us that's what it is. This is for the sake of their conscience (vs's 28-29). (The principle is one of limiting the freedom which we do have, for the sake of someone else's conscience, so that we do not participate in their belief the meat is to their idol.)

Fact: If it was sin to have anything to do with the things associated with pagans / unbelievers - and here it is even the very meat they've sacrificed to idols, God would have forbidden it. Instead, He says we can eat it with freedom, knowing it came from Him, and with giving Him thanks for it (vs's 25-27,29b-30).

Fact: Very important point here - we are to do whatever we do to the glory of God (making Him rightly known and celebrated - part of the biblical definition of glory) and because we desire people's salvation (vs's 31,33).

Conclusion: This passage teaches we are forbidden to participate in idolatry - specifically spelled out as sacrificing meat to idols and eating it as unto them, rather than as believers partaking of the Lord's table of communion, eating that as unto God.

Conclusion: This passage does not teach we're forbidden things associated with pagan origins.

Conclusion: This passage actually proves a Christian can do certain things associated with pagan origins (even things associated with the pagan's practice of false religious rituals), and be right with God. This passage also shows the limits we are to put on this, and why.

© 2006 John and Kim Namestnik    www.givengrace.com

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